Decker feasts on pitches, not food

PEORIA, Ariz. – The hardest part of Jaff Decker's day comes not when a pitcher fires a fastball toward him, but when dinner and snack times beckon or the weight plates and machines wait.

Decker, a Padres prospect who batted .352 last season, is under orders to lose several pounds by Opening Day.

“I'm trying,” he said Saturday, smiling. “I really don't eat junk.”

It's not a punitive measure.

Decker, a broad-shouldered 19-year-old who is about 5 feet 10 and 220 pounds, recently outran several other minor leaguers while passing a 300-yard shuttle test.

He also is one of the better lower-level hitting prospects in all of baseball. All the more reason, the Padres say, to build optimal fitness habits entering his first full season, likely as a right-fielder with low Single-A Fort Wayne.

“Hey, they're not all going to look like Greek gods,” said Padres Director of Scouting and Development Grady Fuson. “But we want to maximize them.”

Chunky left-handed hitters are part of Padres lore. One, Tony Gwynn, threw the boy Decker a souvenir baseball some 13 years ago at a game in Peoria, which is Decker's hometown. Another, John Kruk, a career. 300 hitter in the majors, is invoked by scouts who project what Decker might become.

Back in the 1980s, when Gwynn and Kruk rose up the farm system, the Padres didn't have a massive weight room or a battalion of strength and conditioning coaches. Back then, a ballplayer who could hit for a batting average, say, 100 points above his weight, didn't have to cook his own heart-smart food or push iron around, as Decker now must.

“I'm trying to learn how to cook,” the 19-year-old said Saturday, one block from at least a dozen restaurants and fast-food joints on the main street beyond Peoria Stadium. “That's what the big thing is. And I'm staying away from fast food. When I do go out and order food with the guys, it's grilled chicken.”

Scouts say that ballplayers with stocky bodies such as Decker need to remain extra diligent in their conditioning because as they reach their late 20s, thickening could rob them of athleticism. And Decker has athleticism to preserve. As a pitcher at nearby Peoria Sunrise Mountain High, he was clocked at 93 mph and threw a no-hitter. He also ran well enough last summer to play all three outfield spots and steal nine bases in 10 attempts.

“I've always been big,” said Decker, who signed for $892,000 after the Padres drafted him 42nd overall. “I can slim down a little bit, but I've always been like this, and it's never held me back from succeeding. It's just I've always had a little extra (weight). My dad's a big guy. He's not fat, but he's just big-chested, with big shoulders.

“I've always worked hard,” added Decker, who, in his 49 games last season in the entry-level Arizona League, hit 11 doubles and five home runs while amassing a .523 on-base percentage.

Ramos, Blanks shine

Left-hander Cesar Ramos furthered his long-shot push for major league job, throwing three scoreless innings in the Padres' 8-4 win over the Giants at Scottsdale. Right-hander Walter Silva, recovered from an ankle sprain, made his camp debut and threw two scoreless innings. The Padres also got a two-run home run from Kyle Blanks and two RBI from surging Chase Headley. The homer by Blanks, his third, came off one of the Giants' better prospects, Tim Alderson.

In Peoria, Cha Seung Baek “threw very well” across four innings, said bench coach Ted Simmons. Baek gave up two runs in the 8-6 loss to the Indians. Described by manager Bud Black as one of the organization's most improved players, center fielder Drew Macias made a difficult over-the-shoulder catch and had three singles and two RBI out of the leadoff spot. Matt Antonelli scorched a single as part of a 2-for-2 day.